AbiWord 1.0.1 Released

plam writes "After 3 years of hacking, the AbiWord team has unleashed AbiWord 1.0.1 upon the world. AbiWord is a Free cross-platform word processor which runs on Linux and Windows, MacOS X, QNX, FreeBSD, Solaris and others. AbiWord is small and compact (20 times smaller than OpenOffice!), yet contains most of the features found in larger word processors, including Word and WordPerfect import/export."

Comments

WordPerfect

[rubinson]

If the WordPerfect filters are decent, this is--for me, at least--huge. WordPerfect still has a strong presence in certain industries. Law is frequently mentioned but many academics are still using WordPerfect as well. Indeed, I keep a copy of WordPerfect 8 for Linux (the native version, not that crappy Wine port) on my machine for occassional file from my colleagues (as well as for a handful of my own files from my days of using WP).

I no longer have any need for Word thanks to OpenOffice; perhaps AbiWord will permit me to eliminate the last of my proprietary applications from my desktop.

Re:Grammar Checking...

[autechre]

I've never actually seen the grammar checker in Microsoft Office do anything useful. I think it's a bit fiddly to have a computer attempt to do such a thing in the first place (like a spell checker, it certainly won't catch all of the errors). I've often disagreed with it.

The best method by far (IMHO) is to have someone else proofread your writing. If he is also a writer, you can trade. When proofreading your own work, errors will often slip by, because your brain knows what _should_ be on the page.

It's also very helpful to read a lot of edited material (books, newspapers, etc.). _The_Elements_of_Style_ is a nice guide.